1.

The UK (briefly characterise England, Wales, Scotland, NI)

England is the leading country of the UK in that it is the political, economic and cultural
centre. Being a part of Great Britain, it shares land borders with Scotland to the north, and
Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the North West, the Celtic Sea to the south-west and
the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel, which opens out into the Atlantic
Ocean, to the south separating it from continental Europe.
As is known, England takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes, who
settled the territory during the 5th and 6th centuries, together with Saxons and Jutes.
England has been a unified state since AD 927 and generally has had a significant cultural
and legal impact on the other parts of the UK and the wider world. England is the home of
the English language, the Anglican Church and English law, which serves as the basis for
the Common law legal systems of many other countries in the world. Moreover, the country's
parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations worldwide. In
addition to this, England was the country where the Industrial Revolution began in the 18th
century and quickly transformed its society into the world's first industrialised nation. The
official language of England is English which is rapidly becoming the world’s lingua franca.

Scotland shares a border with England to its south and is bounded by the North Sea to the
east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and the Irish Sea to
the southwest. The word Scotland comes from the Latin word Scoti, which applied to Gaels,
or the people who originally came from the region of what is now Scotland and Ireland. By
the 11th century, at the latest, the word Scotia was used to refer to (Gaelic-speaking)
Scotland alongside Albania or Albany, both derived from the Gaelic Alba, meaning white.
The use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became
common in the late middle ages.
The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh. Edinburgh is the country's largest financial centre. On
the other hand, Glasgow, which is Scotland's largest city, was once one of the world's
leading industrial cities. However, closeness to the North Sea, containing the largest oil
reserves in Europe, has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of
Europe's oil capital. Although Scotland’s legal system is historically close to the legal
systems of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, it operates a distinct jurisdiction in public
and private law. Nowadays,Scotland possesses its parliament, which has some rights to
govern the country.

Wales, for which the Welsh term is Cymru [kumri], borders England to its east, and the
Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea to its west. Wales has a population estimated at three
million and is officially bilingual. Currently, the indigenous Welsh language is less spoken
than English though they both have equal status. However, there is a rising tendency to use
Welsh more over recent years, particularly in the younger generation, with fluent Welsh
speakers currently estimated to be around 20% of the population.
Initially, Wales was inhabited by the Celtic Britons. Nowadays, Wales is regarded as one of
the modern Celtic nations. Wales was incorporated into England with the Laws in Wales
Acts of 1535-1542, creating the legal entity known today as England and Wales. In 1999, the
National Assembly for Wales was created, which, although being devolved, holds
responsibility for a range of devolved matters.
Cardiff (Welsh, Caerdydd) is the capital city of Wales with a population of around 320,000
People. Cardiff enjoys the status of the largest media centre in the UK outside of London.
Northern Ireland is situated in the northeast of the island of Ireland and shares a border with
the Republic of Ireland (which is not a part of the UK) to the south and west.
Northern Ireland was created as a distinct part of the UK on 3 May 1921 under the
Government of Ireland Act 1920, though its independence was formally over in 1800 by the
Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland. For over 50 years, it had its devolved
government and parliament. Both of these institutions were finally abolished in 1973.
Northern Ireland has been a site of severe ethnopolitical conflict between nationalists
(Roman Catholic population) and unionists (Protestants). The nationalists want Northern
Ireland to be a part of the Eire, while the unionists wish it to remain part of the UK. Since the
signing of the "Good Friday Agreement” in 1998, most military groups have stopped their
armed campaigns. In general, Unionists consider themselves British, and Nationalists see
themselves as Irish, though these identities are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

2.Four nations of the UK

The United Kingdom was formed by Acts of Union between England and Wales (1536) and
England, Wales, and Scotland (1707), uniting the three nations under a single monarchy and
legislative council (Parliament in London). After 1169, the island of Ireland came under
British influence, and it became a colonial dependency in 1690. The British and Irish
parliaments were united in 1801. A separatist movement led to the dissolution of the Union
of Great Britain and Ireland in 1920, after which twenty-six of Ireland's thirty-two counties
became the independent Irish Free State (later the Republic of Ireland).Northern Ireland and
Scotland have separate legal and educational systems and issue their currency. Wales is
incorporated within the English legal, educational, and banking systems.
Until the middle of the twentieth century, the United Kingdom was one of the world's
wealthiest and most influential nations.The country's position as a world power was reduced
in the second half of the twentieth century by two world wars and the gradual decline of its
advantages in manufacturing and business, the loss of the empire, and expensive
experiments with state socialism. By the late 1970s, the nation was in debt to the
International Monetary Fund. The discovery of oil in the North Sea in the 1970s saved the
country from bankruptcy and stimulated economic recovery.
The United Kingdom is made up of four interdependent nations with many common
institutions. While differences in everyday modes of sociality and consumer behaviour are
not great from one part of the nation to another, some aspects of culture are symbolic of
national or local differences on the level of everyday practice or on special occasions.
Support for the monarchy, political parties, and soccer teams are the most obvious
expressions of contemporary localism; religious adherence and ethnic differentiation is also
significant. Support for the monarchy and the Conservative Party is highest in England,
especially in the south, while in Scotland and Wales it is substantially lower. In Scotland and
Wales, there are minority nationalist parties.
Family life is changing, and there are tensions between kinship ties and some contemporary
social values. However, the great majority of people perceive themselves to be part of
multigenerational families and regard these relationships as very important. The United
Kingdom is a crowded country. People cope with this situation by being reserved and
diffident in public, politely ignoring strangers, quietly minding their own business, and
marking out and defending their private spaces, homes, and gardens. They expect others to
do the same.
3.Religion in the UK (Reformation and current situation)
The first evidence of Christianity in England is from the late 2nd century AD However, there
may have been Christians in Britain before then, but there is no evidence to prove this. We
will never know who first introduced Christianity to England. However, it is still believed that it
was St. Augustus, who introduced Christianity to Britain.
The Romans were not tolerant of Christianity. At times waves of persecution crossed the
Empire.Then, in 313 AD, Emperor Constantine granted Christians freedom of worship. So
persecution ended, and during the 4th century, Christianity became widespread in England.
In 314, three British bishops attended a church council in Arles in France, Eborius bishop of
York, Restitutus bishop of London and Adelius bishop of Caerleon (Gwent). So by that time,
there was a flourishing and organised church in England.
Christianity thrived in Wales, and by the early 5th century, it spread to Ireland. In the 5th and
6th centuries, Scotland was also converted. Cut off from the Church in Rome, Celtic
Christians formed a distinctive Celtic Church.
In the Middle Ages, religion was a vital part of everyday life. All children were baptised
(unless they were Jewish), and everyone attended mass on Sunday. Mass was in Latin, a
language that ordinary people did not understand.
(მერე რეფორმაცია)
The largest religious group in England is Christianity, with the Church of England (Anglican
Church) the major, established church. This church retains a representation in the UK
Parliament. Moreover, the British monarch is a member of the church as well as its Supreme
Governor. The Roman Catholic Church is the second largest Christian church with around
32 five million members, mainly in England and Ireland and Wales. There are also growing
Orthodox and Pentecostal churches in England. The Roman Catholic Church of Scotland is
Scotland's second largest Christian church, representing a sixth of the population. In the
1920s, the Church in Wales became partially independent from the Church of England. In
Ireland, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, closely linked to the Church of Scotland in terms
of theology and history, is the second largest church, followed by the Church of Ireland.

4.Banking system in the UK

The Bank of England was founded to act as the Government's banker and debt manager.
Since then, its role has developed and evolved, centred on the management of the nation's
currency and its position at the centre of the UK's financial system.
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom, which is often referred to as
the 'Old Lady of Threadneedle Street’. The Bank was founded in 1694, nationalised on 1
March 1946, and gained independence in 1997.
The Bank has three core purposes - monetary stability, financial stability and promotion of
the efficiency and competitiveness of Britain’s financial services. The Bank has had a
monopoly on the issue of banknotes in England and Wales since the early 20th century.
Interest rates decisions are taken by the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (the MPC),
which has to judge what interest rate is necessary to meet a target for overall inflation in the
economy. The inflation target is set each year by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Bank
of England is committed to increasing awareness and understanding of its activities and
responsibilities, across both general and specialist audiences alike. In addition to this, the
Bank offers technical assistance and advice to other central banks through its Centre for
Central Banking Studies and has a museum at its premises in Threadneedle Street in the
City of London, open to members of the public free of charge.

Britain can claim to have been the first large country in the world to have accepted that it is
part of the job of the government to help any citizen in need and to have set up what is
generally known as a ‘welfare state’
A welfare state is a concept of government where the state plays a key role in the protection
and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the
principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility
for those unable to avail themselves of the minimal provisions for a good life. The general
term may cover a variety of forms of economic and social organisation. In Britain, anyone
below the retirement age of 65 who has previously worked for a certain minimum period of
time can receive unemployment benefit (the ‘dole’). This is organised by the Department of
Employment. All retired people are entitled to the standard old age pension which is up to
approximately £110 per week for a single person. Thus, many people make arrangements
during their working lives to have some additional income after they retire.
Those people who have never worked can apply for income support. A wide range of other
benefits exist as well. For example, these include child benefits (a small weekly payment for
each child), usually paid to mothers. Other examples are housing benefits, to help with rent
payments, maternity benefit and death grants, to cover funeral expenses. This system,
however, has its imperfections. On the one hand, there are people who are entitled to
various benefits but who do not receive them. On the other hand, there are people who have
realised that they can have higher income (through doles and other benefits) when not
working than they can when they are employed However, as a result of the current World
crisis the government plans to change the system , for example unemployment benefits
could be cut for people who fail to get work over long periods of time. People receiving
payments could also be expected to learn to read, write and count, to make them more
employable. It is said that the system had gone "truly awry" and a "culture of entitlement"
had to be addressed to boost the economy. In March 2012, the government's Welfare
Reform Act received Royal Assent. That act, which applies to England, Scotland and Wales,
introduces an annual cap on benefits and makes the system more efficient.

5.British Parliament (Houses and politics)

The British Parliament is bicameral (Latin bi, two + camera, chamber), which means having
two legislative or parliamentary chambers. The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly referred to as the Westminster Parliament) is the
supreme legislative body in the UK and British Overseas territories. Parliament alone
possesses ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK. As was mentioned above,
the Parliament is bicameral, with an “upper” house, the House of Lords and a “lower” house,
the House of Commons. The House of Lords includes two different types of members: the
Lords Spirituals (the senior bishops and other dignitaries of the Church of England, which is
the major church of the UK) and the Lords Temporal (members of the Peerage) whose
members are not elected by the people but are hereditary or appointed by the Sovereign on
the advice of the Prime Minister. Before the Supreme Court was opened in 2009, The House
of Lords also performed a judicial role through the Law Lords.
The Parliament is elected for five years. However, in practice, general elections are usually
held before the end of this term. However, Parliament can be dissolved and elections can be
ordered by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister.
The Functions of Parliament are to pass laws; to scrutinise the government policy and
administration,including proposals for expenditure and to debate the major issues of the day.
By custom, Parliament is also informed before all-important international treaties and
agreements are ratified. However, the making of treaties is a royal prerogative exercised on
the advice of the Government and is not subject to parliamentary approval.
The life of the Parliament is divided into sessions. Each session lasts for one year, usually
beginning and ending in October or November. At the start of each session, the Queen’s
speech to Parliament outlines the Government’s policies and proposed legislative
programme.

6.Devolved Parliaments (Scottish, Irish and Welsh,their rights)

The members of England are ruled by the British Parliament, as discussed earlier. However,
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their governing bodies.

Scotland has its own legal and church systems. It also has wide administrative autonomy.
The Secretary of State for Scotland, a Cabinet Minister at Westminster, has responsibility for
Scotland. The referendum held in Scotland in 1997 resulted in a vote for a Scottish
Parliament to be set up. The current Parliament was established by the Scotland Act of
1998. All matters that are not explicitly reserved are automatically the responsibility of the
Scottish Parliament. The British Parliament retains the ability to amend the terms of
reference of the Scottish Parliament and can extend or reduce the areas in which it can
make laws. The specific devolved matters include agriculture, fisheries and forestry,
economic development, education, environment, food standards, health, home affairs,
Scottish law courts, police and fire services, local governments, sport and the arts, transport,
training, tourism, research and statistics and social work. However, the Scottish Parliament
is unable to legislate on such issues that are reserved to and dealt with at Westminster (and
where Ministerial functions usually lie with UK Government ministers). These include
broadcasting policy, civil service, common markets for UK goods and services, constitution,
electricity, coal, oil, gas, nuclear energy, defence and national security, drug policy,
employment, foreign policy and relations with Europe, most aspects of transport safety and
regulation, social security and the stability of the UK's fiscal, economic and monetary
system.

As initially established, the Welsh Government had no independent executive powers in law
(unlike, for instance, the Scottish Ministers and Ministers in the UK Government). The
National Assembly was established by the Government of Wales Act 1998. The Government
of Wales Act 2006 formally separated the legislature (National Assembly for Wales) and the
Welsh Government, giving Welsh Ministers independent executive authority, this taking
effect after the May 2007 elections. Following separation, the Welsh ministers exercise
functions in their own right. Under the structures established by the Government of Wales
Act 2006, the role of Welsh Ministers is to make decisions, develop and implement policy,
exercise executive functions and make statutory instruments.
The Welsh Government’s functions now include being able to propose Bills to the National
Assembly for Wales on subjects within twenty fields of policy, namely: a) agriculture,
fisheries, forestry and rural development; b) ancient monuments and historical buildings; c)
culture; d) economic development; e) education and training; f) environment; g) fire and
rescue services and promotion of fire safety; h) food; i) health and health services; j)
highways and transport; k) housing; l) local government; m) National Assembly for Wales; n)
public administration; o) social welfare; p) sport and recreation; q) tourism; r) town and
country planning; s) water and flood defences; t) the welsh language

The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has the
power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament
of the United Kingdom and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive. It sits at Parliament
Buildings at Stormont in Belfast.
Historically it has had a very turbulent history encountering many suspensions. From 7 June
1921 until 30 March 1972, the devolved legislature for Northern Ireland was the Parliament
of Northern Ireland which was suspended on 30 March 1972 and formally abolished in 1973
under the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973.
Shortly after this, the first Parliament was abolished, attempts began to restore devolution on
a new basis that would see power shared between nationalists and unionists. To this end, a
new parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, was established in 1973. However, this
body was abolished in 1974. In 1982 another Northern Ireland Assembly was established as
a body to scrutinise the actions of the Secretary of State, the British minister with
responsibility for Northern Ireland. It received little support from nationalists and was officially
dissolved in 1986.
The latest version of the Assembly was established under the Good Friday Agreement of
1998 and is based on the principle of power-sharing to ensure that Northern Ireland's largest
political communities, the unionist (largely protestant) and nationalist (largely Catholic)
communities participate in governing the region. The Assembly is a unicameral,
democratically elected body currently comprising 108 members known as Members of the
Legislative Assembly, or MLAs.
When the Assembly was suspended, its powers returned to the Northern Ireland Office.
Following talks in November 2006, an agreement was made, an election to the Assembly
was held on 7 March 2007. Full power was restored to the devolved institutions on 8 May
2007. Significantly, powers concerning policing and justice were transferred to the Assembly
on 12 April 2010.
The third Assembly was dissolved on 24 March 2011, in preparation for the elections to be
held on Thursday 5 May 2011, being the first Assembly since the Good Friday Agreement to
complete a full term. The fourth Assembly convened on 12 May 2011.

7.Culture (painting + music)

John Constable (1776-1837) belonged to an English tradition of Romanticism that rejected
compositions marked by a heightened idealisation of nature, such as those of Caspar David
Friedrich. Precise observation of nature led him to disregard the conventional importance of
line, and construct his works from free patches of colour.
This emancipation of colour is particularly characteristic of the painting of William Turner
(1775-1851). For Turner, arguably the greatest of all English painters of Romanticism,
observation of nature is merely one element in the realisation of his own pictorial ambitions.
The mood of his paintings is created less by what he painted than by how he painted,
especially how he employed colour and his paint-brush. Many of his canvases are painted
with rapid slashes. More immediately, his art had a huge impact on the Impressionists, who,
unlike Romantic painters, were realists - they were not interested in visions of light that
heightened expressiveness but in real light effects in nature. This movement towards realism
appeared around 1850.
Reynolds was a portrait painter who dominated English artistic life in the middle and late
18th century. There were no public exhibitions of contemporary artists in London before
1760 when Reynolds helped found the Society of Artists and the first of many successful
exhibitions was held. His success was assured from the first portrait and by 1755 he had
already had quite a few assistants to help him execute the numerous portrait commissions
he received. After 1760 Reynolds’s style became increasingly classical and self-conscious.
As he fell under the influence of the classical Baroque painters of the Bolognese school of
the 17th century Reynolds’s state portraits of the king and queen were never considered a
success, and he seldom painted for them, but the prince of Wales patronised him
extensively, and there were few distinguished families or individuals who did not sit for him.
Nonetheless, some of his finest portraits are those of his intimate friends and fashionable
women of questionable reputation.

მუსიკაზე ვიტყვი პრეზენტაციიდან +

Andrew Lloyd Webber now Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English
composer of musical theatre. Webber has achieved great popular success in musical
theatre, and has been referred to as "the most commercially successful composer in
history." Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade, both in the West End and
on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, two film
scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass. He has also gained some honours, including a
knighthood in 1992 and numerous awards.

Ketevan "Katie" Melua was born in Georgia, but moved to Northern Ireland at the age of
eight, and then to England at fourteen. She made her musical debut in 2003. In 2006, she
was the United Kingdom's best-selling female artist and Europe's highest selling European
female artist. Currently, Katie Melua is the second richest British musician under thirty

8.Women writers
Charlotte (b.1816), Emily (b.1818) and Anne (b.1820) were the three youngest three
daughters born to Patrick Bronte and Maria Branwell Bronte.
The Bronte family also had two older daughters, Maria and Elizabeth and one son, Branwell.
Tragedy first struck the lives of the Bronte sisters when their mother died shortly after their
move in 1821. In 1825, the two eldest Bronte siblings became ill while away at school. They
returned home and died shortly after their return. Following the deaths of Maria and
Elizabeth, the surviving children Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne were educated by their
father at home. They spent their childhood playing on the moors, reading and making up
stories to tell one another and writing for their enjoyment.
Charlotte is the best-known of the Bronte sisters. She was said to be patronising, and as she
was stronger than the other sisters, she did more, was more active and managed to make a
career as a teacher. Charlotte did not start as a successful writer. Her first novel, The
Professor, did not secure a publisher. However, Charlotte was not easily discouraged and
responded by finishing and sending a second manuscript in August 1847, and six weeks
later, Jane Eyre: An Autobiography, was published. She wrote under the pen name Currer
Bell. Jane Eyre was a success and initially received favourable reviews. There was
speculation about the identity of Currer Bell and whether Bell was a man or a woman.
Following the success of Jane Eyre, in 1848, Charlotte began work on the manuscript of her
second novel, Shirley. The manuscript was only partially completed when the Brontë
household suffered a tragic turn of events, experiencing the deaths of three family members
within eight months. Charlotte's third published novel, and the last to be published during her
lifetime, was Villette which came out in 1853.

The Bronte children were weak in terms of general health, they preferred to play at home,
and one of their favourite occupations was writing poems and stories. They were very
imaginative and even created a whole imaginary country with the army, maps, institutions,
and they called this country Angria.
At seventeen, Emily attended the Roe Head girls' school, where Charlotte was a teacher, but
managed to stay only three months before being overcome by extreme homesickness. She
returned home and Anne took her place. At this time, the girls' objective was to obtain
sufficient education to open a small school of their own.
Emily became a teacher at Law Hill School in Halifax, beginning in September 1838, when
she was twenty. Her health broke under the stress of the 17-hour workday, and she returned
home in April 1839. Thereafter, she became the stay-at-home daughter, doing most of the
cooking and cleaning and teaching Sunday school. She taught herself German out of books
and practised on the piano.
The sisters returned home upon the death of their aunt. They did try to open a school at their
home but were unable to attract students to the remote area. In 1844, Emily began going
through all the poems she had written, recopying them neatly into two notebooks. In the
autumn of 1845, Charlotte discovered the notebooks and insisted that the poems be
published. Emily, furious at the invasion of her privacy, at first refused but relented when
Anne brought out her manuscripts and revealed she had been writing poems in secret as
well.
In 1846, the sisters' poems were published in one volume as Poems by Currer, Ellis and
Acton Bell, as mentioned earlier the pen names of charlotte, Emily and Anne respectively.
Charlotte wrote in the "Biographical Notice of Ellis and Acton Bell," that their "ambiguous
choice" was "dictated by a sort of conscientious scruple at assuming Christian names
positively masculine, while we did not like to declare ourselves women Although it received
mixed reviews when it first came out and was often condemned for its portrayal of amoral
passion, the book subsequently became an English literary classic. In 1850, Charlotte edited
and published Wuthering Heights as a stand-alone novel and under Emily's real name.
Emily's health, like her sisters', was weakened by unsanitary conditions at home, the source
of water being contaminated by runoff from the church's graveyard.
Though her condition worsened steadily, Emily rejected medical help and all proffered
remedies, saying that she would have "no poisoning doctor" near her. She eventually died of
tuberculosis on 19 December 1848 at around two in the afternoon.

Anne was barely a year old when her mother became ill died on 15 September 1821.
To provide a mother for his children, Patrick tried to remarry, but he had no success. Maria's
sister, Elizabeth Branwell (1776–1842), had moved into the parsonage, initially to nurse her
dying sister, but she subsequently spent the rest of her life there raising the Bronte children.
She did it from a sense of duty, but she was a stern woman who expected respect, rather
than love. There was little affection between her and the eldest children, but, according to
tradition, she did relate to Anne, her favourite. Anne shared a room with her aunt, they were
particularly close, and this may have strongly influenced Anne's personality and religious
beliefs Little is known about Anne's life during 1838, but in 1839, a year after leaving the
school and at the age of nineteen, she was actively looking for a teaching position. In April
1839, Anne began to work as a governess with the Ingham family at Blake Hall, near Mirfield
The whole episode at Blake Hall was so traumatic for Anne, that she reproduced it in almost
perfect detail in her later novel, Agnes Grey.
However, despite her outwardly placid appearance, Anne was determined and with the
experience she gradually gained, she eventually made a success of her position, becoming
well-liked by her new employers. Her charges, the Robinson girls, ultimately became her
lifelong friends.
During the time working for the Robinsons, Anne and her sisters considered the possibility of
setting up their school. Various locations, including their own home, the parsonage, were
considered as places to establish it. Once free of her position as a governess, Anne took
Emily to visit some of the places she had come to know and love in the past five years. An
initial plan of going to the sea at Scarborough fell through, and the sisters went instead to
York, where Anne showed her sister, York Minster.
The general view has been that Anne is a mere shadow compared with Charlotte, the
family's most prolific writer, and Emily, the genius. Anne's religious concerns, reflected in her
books and expressed directly in her poems, were not concerns shared by her sisters. Anne's
subtle prose has a fine ironic edge; her novels also reveal Anne as the most socially radical
of the three. She wrote in a realistic, rather than a romantic style. Her novels, like those of
her sisters, have become classics of English literature.

9.Education system in the UK (School and higher education)

All children in England and Wales between the ages of 5 and 16 must receive a full-time
education, while in Northern Ireland, children must begin at age 4. After the age of 16,
students can either remain at School for two further years, attend sixth form colleges or other
further education institutions. The UK introduced a National Curriculum in 1992, and state
schools are required to adhere to it until students reach age 16. National Curriculum core
subjects are: English (Welsh is also a core subject in Welsh Speaking schools),
mathematics, science, design and technology, information and communication technology,
history, geography, modern foreign languages, music, art and design, physical education,
and citizenship. In addition to these core subjects, there are many other compulsory
courses, such as religious education. (Note that Independent schools are not obliged to
adhere to the National Curriculum).
Northern Ireland follows a similar framework; however, schools can develop additional
curriculum elements to express their particular ethos and meet the pupils' individual needs
and circumstances. The curriculum also includes the Irish language in Irish-speaking
schools.
After five years of secondary education, students take examinations in a range of subjects at
the level of the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). The GCSE is a single
subject examination set and is marked by independent examination boards. Students usually
take up to ten (there is no upper or lower limit) GCSE examinations in different subjects,
including mathematics and English language.
After taking GCSEs, students may leave secondary schooling. Alternatively, they may
choose to continue their education at vocational or technical colleges, or they may take a
higher level of secondary school examinations known as AS-Levels after an additional year
of study. There are two types of schools in the UK, state-funded and independent (privately-
funded) schools. Approximately ninety per cent of British students attend state-funded
schools. State schools follow the “National Curriculum,” with core subjects as mentioned
above. State schools (and some independent schools) are inspected by the Office for
Standards in Education, Child Services and Skills (Ofsted) every three years and Ofsted
publishes the results online.
Higher education is the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges,
seminaries, and Institutes of Technology. In contrast, the vocational higher education and
training that takes place at some universities, FE colleges and schools, usually concentrates
on practical applications, with less theory. In addition, professional-level education is always
included within Higher Education, and usually in graduate schools, since many postgraduate
academic disciplines are both vocationally, professionally, and theoretically/research-
oriented, such as in law, medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, and veterinary medicine. A basic
requirement for entry into these graduate-level programmes is almost always a bachelor's
degree. Requirements for admission to such high-level graduate programs are competitive
and admitted students are expected to perform well.

10.Commonwealth
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and previously
known as the British Commonwealth, is an inter-governmental organisation of 54
independent member states. All but two (Mozambique and Rwanda) of these countries were
formerly part of the British Empire. The member states cooperate within a framework of
common values and goals outlined in the Singapore Declaration. These include the
promotion of democracy, human rights, good governance, the rule of law, individual liberty,
egalitarianism, free trade, multilateralism and world peace. The Commonwealth is not a
political union but an inter-governmental organisation through which countries with diverse
social, political and economic backgrounds are regarded as equal in status. The
Commonwealth started after World War II when the British Empire was gradually dismantled
to the 14 British overseas territories still held by the United Kingdom. In April 1949, following
the London Declaration, the word "British" was dropped from the title of the Commonwealth
to reflect its changing nature.
The issue of countries with constitutional structures not based on a shared Crown but that
wanted to remain, members of the Commonwealth, came to a head in 1948 with the
passage of The Republic of Ireland Act 1948. In this Act, Ireland renounced the sovereignty
of the Crown and thus left the Commonwealth. The Ireland Act 1949, which was passed by
the Parliament of Westminster, offered citizens of the Republic of Ireland a status similar to
that of citizens of the Commonwealth in the UK law. The issue was resolved in April 1949 at
a Commonwealth prime ministers' meeting in London. Under the London Declaration, India
agreed that, when it became a republic in January 1950, it would accept the British
Sovereign as a "symbol of the free association of its independent member nations and as
such the Head of the Commonwealth."
As already mentioned, the Commonwealth's objectives were first outlined, in 1971, in the
Singapore Declaration, which promoted individual liberty, democracy and the pursuit of
equality and opposition to racism; the fight against poverty, ignorance, and disease; and free
trade. To these were added opposition to discrimination based on gender and environmental
sustainability. These objectives were reinforced by the Harare Declaration in 1991. The
Commonwealth areas of work are Democracy, Economics, Education, Gender, Governance,
Human Rights, Law, Small States, Sport, Sustainability and Youth.
The flag of the Commonwealth consists of the symbol of the Commonwealth Secretariat, a
gold globe surrounded by emanating "rays", on a dark blue field; it was officially adopted on
26 March 1976. 1976 also saw the organisation agree to a common date on which to
commemorate Commonwealth Day, the second Monday in March, having developed
separately on different dates from Empire Day celebrations.